- Date Of Birth: March 6, 1925
- Date Of Death: December 9, 2019
- State: Florida
Dell was born March 6, 1925, to John and Mary Gray in Chokoloskee, Florida. He was a US Navy veteran who served as the Coxswain on a 50 foot LCM (Landing Craft Medium), “Like the kind they used to make down at Newport,” he said. On the trip over there, all of his crewmates came down with seasickness or were injured, so he and one other young man ran the big barge for 24 hours, crossing the English Chanel from Plymouth to Omaha Beach. “Dead bodies were everywhere,” he said of Omaha Beach, where he stayed for 42 days without relief.
At daylight on the second day, he awoke to the words, “Get up quick, the Germans have broken through.” Trying to rouse the three men next to him, he soon realized they were all dead. During the night, someone had place several of those killed on the beach on D-Day next to him thinking he had been killed also.
Dell loved being surrounded by his family and friends. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved camping, fishing and boating. He was also a long time member of the Crawfordville Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Dell is survived by his youngest brother, Jake; his son, Ken and his daughter-in law, Debbie; his granddaughters, Alisa Gray and Stacy Schmidt and their spouses; four great-grandsons, and many nieces and nephews.
